I was thinking of writing something up anyway, and then Oriole's new post kind of forced my hand. There's been alot of talk about dumbing down the game to "encourage" new players to sign up and stick with the game.....well, thats exactly what I am. I started playing GD back in December I think, after getting a code in my email for a free team. Since then, I've actually stuck around, but feel like this might be the appropriate time to "voice" some frustrations and give everyone some insight as to what a new player goes through.
1) Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was no way I could win in my first season. This game basically boils down to 3 things (in this order I believe), skill of players, knowledge of formations, and a smidge of coaching prowess. Starting a team from scratch, I had no where near the quality of players on my team to compete with others and I didn't even know it at the time. It really isnt a whole lot of fun getting whooped every week even if you didn't pay for it.
2) Your tutorial is fairly weak. God bless some of the posts on the forums, otherwise I would be completely lost. My first season I recruited a total of TWO players, one of which was a kicker. It was a complete waste of time for me to recruit and would eventually cost me a season essentially. I'll take this time to give a thank you to caesari and his GD guide to the game post, for without it, I would of been gone a long time ago.
3) Game planning and what the heck I was doing was basically pointless. I again was clueless....running stupid formations, no direction for my team, used a practice schedule picked by WIS that had no formation practice. I just didn't know. Again, a wasted a season.
4) Ratings for players still has me confused more that I want to admit. I just recruited a player that was a 49 ILB per WIS and 39 ILB per GUESS. I really dont know which one is correct. But here's the thing, if GUESS is correct, why are your formulas to rate players wrong....why am I using essentially misinformation to build my team???
5) Vision, how the heck am I going to even get to recruit players to compete if I cannot even see them. Think about that for a second. New player comes in, says ok, let me try this. It may take him 6-8 seasons to even get his vision high enough to see better players and have them become starters (ie, jr's sr's). CRAZY
The game is just intrinsically stacked against new players, and this isn't a bad thing. There is just not enough information on how to play this game when you start. You are basically on your own in order to figure it out. On top of that, its extremely likely your players aren't even good enough to compete and it may take you a few seasons to just have the opportunity to recruit them. Some may say, "Of course you have to figure it out, we all did." And they would be correct. But most of those people who figured all this out were competing against others who also had no knowledge of this "system." That is no longer the case, newbies are competing against players who know the ins and outs of the system so you essentially created 2 strikes for new players to overcome, 1) a significantly weaker team and 2) not enough knowledge to compete and grow effectively. To throw new members into a game like this, is essentially feeding them to the lions. You need to get alot more information in the hands of new players so than can begin to compete
I am a production manager by day, so I know the value of being part of the problem, so I also want to be part of the solution. I'm not here to just *****. One piece of information I would like you to look at is the retention rates of all those free seasons handed out. How many new players did you get off of that.....how many of them signed up for 1,2,5 seasons? I'm guessing pretty low. So....here are my suggestions:
A) Keep doing what you are doing. If you need to fix bugs, tweak interfaces...go for it. It makes the game better for everyone.
B) There is no need to change the way D3 works unless you want to obliterate it. If you want to shrink the worlds, hey great. Figure out a fair way to do it so people dont get penalized and do it. 3 divisions (I, IAA, II) or combine worlds.....go for it, its your prerogative.
C) Get the right information into peoples hands. I dont care if you just link posts in the tutorial. The point will be this is essentially "WIS approved" information....and that is whats important. I sincerely cannot stress this enough. I'm still a little miffed a recruited a LB that may be garbage essentially based off your information. Show them how to recruit, give them ideas on how to build playbooks (and I mean real ideas), and give them the knowledge to put together appropriate practice plans. There is better information on the forums than you provide.
D) Incentivize the new players. The root of this is this game is its a dynasty game. It is going to take multiple seasons to be proficient at this, to compete at this. No matter what level you are on. D3, D2.....etc, it doesnt matter. So give them a carrot. How about a buy 5 seasons, get 2 free for new players. Or maybe a free season if they win their division, conference, make the final 8, jump up in levels.....etc. Give them a reason to stay, another carrot other than a NC and personal satisfaction. This works, look no further than the games on your phone. Start easy, get people hooked, make them pay for upgrades/time/lives...etc. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. Think about it, no matter when they make the jump, they are still going to be behind the 8ball so to speak, give them the incentive to stay. You give rewards for success, just nothing when people are starting out essentially.
I really cant put all my frustrations into words. I'm sure there were more, but this was a start. And mine were probably muted since I have played countless Sim baseball seasons. I know how this works. But you know who your new players are, and the ones who stayed when you "recruited." Talk to them, get their ideas. Listen to the customer/consumer/employee.....they are usually right.
I hope this gets read/helps.
George